Post: #1

Saw this on Capt Capitalism's site and felt the urge to share.

Post: #2

Obviously something went horribly wrong because they were unable to create an environment for kids to grow up in that produced happy, healthy kids. The baby boomer generation was the author of the current environment as much as a painter is the author of his paintings. They benefited from the discpline and correct ordering that was put in place by the ww2 generation but failed to provide the same set of social and sexual mores that they benefited from growing up.

Post: #3

I'd say all of those problems were born from individuals born in that decade.

Blame the boomers.

Post: #4

Survivor bias.

Post: #5

(08-20-2013 12:40 PM)n0000 Wrote:  Obviously something went horribly wrong because they were unable to create an environment for kids to grow up in that produced happy, healthy kids. The baby boomer generation was the author of the current environment as much as a painter is the author of his paintings. They benefited from the discpline and correct ordering that was put in place by the ww2 generation but failed to provide the same set of social and sexual mores that they benefited from growing up.

Bingo.

The narrator is correct to note all of the positive things that benefited children in those environments. What he fails to do, however, is note the failure of those children to recreate those environments for their children.

It is great that boomers and some Gen-Xers grew up in an era where kids were allowed to exercise more regularly, not every kid got a trophy, and all of that. You have to recognize, however, that those same people are the ones who grew up and became the decision makers who eliminated all of those things.

Boomer parents and legislators are the ones who began the war against dodgeball in schools and the war against boys in schools (whereby "boys being boys" and doing things like fighting one another became a cardinal sin). Boomers invented, marketed and spread the smartphone and tablet. Boomer parents lobbied for more "equitable" youth sports structures in which every kid could get a trophy. Boomer legislators made the mandates for decreased recess time, childproof everything and helmets on bikes.

This video presents all of the changes that have come since them as negative, but must also note that they are the architects of those changes. They benefited from many of the factors listed in the video and then denied those things to their children. They "had fights and got black and blue and learned to get over it", but made it impossible for their children to do the same without facing one of the lawsuit this video notes they didn't have to deal with as kids.

It is alright to maintain a nostalgia for the traits of bygone eras, so long as you're realistic about who put an end to them.

Post: #6

As is the generation of leaves, so to of men:
At one time the wind shakes the leaves to the ground
but then the flourishing woods
Gives birth, and the season of spring comes
into existence;
So it is with the generations of men, which
alternately come forth and pass away.

- Homer, The Illiad, Book Six

Post: #7

I really wish these values still existed for my generation. It's both a blessing and a curse to have been brought up in the 90's and 2000's. It's even worse for the young kids being brought up now, given the current domestic/cultural condition of the country.

Post: #8

I can't wait for the Baby Boomer generation to die off. They've turned into the richest, most selfish, most violent and repressive generation in human history.

Post: #9

(08-20-2013 03:20 PM)vinman Wrote:  I can't wait for the Baby Boomer generation to die off. They've turned into the richest, most selfish, most violent and repressive generation in human history.

Sorry man, but you should tone down the vitriol. There's been far worse generations both in other cultures and in American cultures.

How about the kids who grew up under Puritanism? Do you think those guys enjoyed their childhood, where kissing a girl could get you a criminal record?

Post: #10

Honestly, I think the two ways in which the Baby Boomers failed was to preserve any sense of American cultural identity.

They passed lax immigration laws which allowed low-quality immigrants to come to America.

They allowed the sexual revolution to take over college campuses and make a mockery of higher education.

They allowed people to divorce on a whim with no regard to the welfare of the children.

They sat back while America engaged in constant warfare for no real reason.

They allowed massive deficit spending to take place of fiscal responsibility.


The thing is - could the boomers have stopped any of this from happening? Once the woman's vote was in place, it seemed inevitable for the above to happen.

Post: #11

(08-20-2013 03:20 PM)vinman Wrote:  I can't wait for the Baby Boomer generation to die off. They've turned into the richest, most selfish, most violent and repressive generation in human history.

They're not going to and guess what?? The ones retiring off your hard earned cash I'm seeing move here are in shape and healthy.

Hanging at the pool and on yachts while hoarding all the cash that should be yours for free or for a couple hours work online per week.

Post: #12

I found an old 'Pracitical Mechanics and Hobbies Annual' for fifty cents at a garage sale last weekend. It's dated from the late 1950's, and is aimed at 10-16 year old boys.

Chapters include:

- Make a slide valve steam engine
- How to create a dynamo
- Pewter work for beginners
- How to build a tool shed
- Make a working television receiver
- Create a vacuum pump

It's all complicated electrical diagrams and carpentry plans, and I'm amazed at how society has dumbed down our expectations of children. It makes me want to have a son to build this shit with him.

"Every boy who makes use of tools should build this tool shed if he has no other place to work other than his mother's kitchen. Here he can work undisturbed."

One of the experiments is hooking up a wire to a battery and then repeatedly touching it to your eyeball to produce flashes. Imagine the lawsuits if a modern parent found their child doing that.

Post: #13

When I was in 7th grade I had three shop classes.

There was a small engine shop where we would rebuild briggs and Tecumseh engines and bolt them on shit sometimes minibikes and take them out to the field or roto tillers etc.

Metal shop.. We were running lathes, milling machines, brazing and fucking ARC welding heavy plate steel.

Wood shop..Make whatever you want but it better be perfect or the teacher would stamp a big fat F on it literally either with a punch or burn it in.

In 9th grade we had a full motorcycle shop, outboard engines and aircraft. We took apart a GE jet and re assembled it. There was a full auto shop with paint and body shop. A huge metal shop and an electronics shop which was really popular and kinda hard to get into. We built some primitive robots, electric motors from scratch.

Do schools still have this stuff?

Post: #14

(08-21-2013 08:51 AM)el mechanico Wrote:  Do schools still have this stuff?

College don't even have that stuff. It only exists on The Big Bang Theory. At least kids feel smart by watching that show.